He surged to his feet, and took two running strides, but it sent icy shocks of pain tearing through his side. He ignored the pain, and drove Ironspike into the demon’s flank, up to its jeweled hilt. For the briefest of moments, he felt his swords magic trying to draw out the demon’s life force, but it just wasn’t strong enough. Had it been, the fight would have been over. The demon’s essence would have been trapped in the blade, like so many others had been before it.
It wasn’t to be though. Ironspike had exhausted all of its magical power, and Mikahl found that he was in serious trouble. He yanked the sword free, but not before the raging Choska spun, and slung him. Mikahl didn’t let go of his sword. He couldn’t let go, no matter what happened next. Loudin had held on, and so would he. He didn’t even let go to use his hands to cushion his tumbling fall.
Urp’s toothy grip broke free of the Choska’s fore leg, and the wolf went slinging away, just as Mikahl had, only Urp didn’t land before crashing into the forest.
Mikahl came down hard on his injured side, but managed to roll with the impact. He ended up on his back, with no air in his lungs whatsoever. He saw the Choska demon’s slavering yellowed teeth coming down at him and tried to scoot away. Hot pain shot through him, from the bottom of his feet up to the base of his skull, as if his nerves and tendons were white hot wires. He was barely able to keep his grip on Ironspike’s hilt. His back was broken, he was sure of it. Even with all of the pain, his legs should have moved, but they didn’t. Terror chilled his blood. All he could do was look on helplessly as those dagger sharp teeth came gnashing down for him.
Vaegon charged, seeing the terrible fate that was about to befall his young kingdom-born friend. Even as he did so, he knew he wouldn’t be fast enough to get between the demon and Mikahl. Stopping in mid-stride, he launched his weapon at the Choska demon’s head as if it were a javelin. At the same moment, a flash of white fur leapt onto Mikahl and Grrr’s growl erupted into a peel of savage barking. It all ended with a wet, sickening crunch. Then, from beyond the demon’s bulk, a skittering, crackling boom concussed through the whole forest like a thunderclap.
The trees, the ground, and even the air, shimmered for a moment, like an expanding ring of desert heat exploding outward.
Vaegon fell to his knees, and in the mind-numbing silence that followed the blast, he saw the Choska demon’s body twist crazily up and over his head. Its great bulk had been blown like a leaf off of the forest floor by the force of what ever had made that sound. The beast didn’t crash into the forest though. It threw out its leathery wings crazily, as it whirled over the treetops, and caught the air. With long, ropey strands of thick, black blood slinging away from its body, it righted itself, and winged away westward.
Vaegon ran to Mikahl’s side. He was lying twisted at a sickening angle, his thigh bone jutting up out of torn and punctured flesh. Mikahl rolled his head to one side and made a deep growling sound. He focused on something. Tears then welled, and spilled out of his eyes, just before they rolled up into his head. Vaegon couldn’t help but turn to see what Mikahl had been looking at.
There, on the ground lay Grrr, the pack leader of King Aldar’s great wolves. He was a bloody heap of mangled fur, still and lifeless, eyes open and empty. Huffa whined sadly, and sniffed at her mate’s unresponsive body. Oof whimpered as well, then suddenly looked up, and started searching for Urp. Urp was limping slowly over towards them, his fur a tangle of leaves, and debris, his maw bright with crimson gore.
Vaegon glanced around frantically, looking for Hyden Hawk. He spotted him, half in, half out of the forest, looking with wide-eyed bewilderment at where the Choska had just been. He was down on one knee. His right arm was outstretched, and his hand was open, as if he had just thrown something at the beast.
The well-armored lady wasn’t far away. She was staring up at Hyden, with a look of shock on her dusty face. She was ruffled, and had twigs and leaves in her hair, but otherwise seemed fine. She shrugged off the help of her plate armored soldiers, and with a look of disgust at them, strode over towards Vaegon.
Seeing that Hyden Hawk was alive, the elf forced everything else out of his mind, and began using his magic to tend to Mikahl’s wounds. A moment later, he raised his head back, and let out a horrible, keening wail.
Mikahl had serious internal damage, more than even he could begin to heal. All he could do was what he had done. He stopped the bleeding, and put Pavreal’s last heir into a form of stasis that might, or might not, keep him alive a little while longer.
“Will he live?” The woman asked, with sincere concern showing plainly on her face. “There are extraordinary healers in Xwarda, if we can get him there.”
“How far?” Vaegon asked, with a glint of hope forcing its way through his anguish. His head felt like there was a hive of bees swarming in it, and his ears most likely had permanent damage from the Choska’s horrible scream, but he ignored his pain, and looked at the woman, waiting intensely for her answer.
“If he can ride, we can make it by dawn, I think.”
Vaegon closed his yellow eye a moment, and fingered the patch over the empty socket of the other. He doubted that the stasis spell he had cast to keep Mikahl alive would last that long. After a few deep breaths, he looked around, and stopped his gaze on Huffa. She was licking at Grrr’s unresponsive muzzle lovingly. It was obvious that she knew he was dead – it showed in her posture. It only made the sight that much harder to look upon. Her eyes met Vaegon’s gaze, and the elf could feel her sorrow. He could also sense the pride she felt in knowing that her mate had died trying to save another. An idea struck him then, and he looked back up at the Lady.
“If you can ride a wolf, then you can have him there by nightfall!” His inner ears hurt horribly, and his sudden excitement was intensifying the sensation. “I assume you can get him to these healers quickly once you get there?”
She nodded, and glanced at Oof for a moment, then nodded again, though with a lot less confidence about her.
Vaegon looked towards Hyden, who was struggling to get to his feet.
“Will you help my friend?” he asked her. “I need him over here.”
Without another word, she went to help Hyden.
As soon as she had moved away, Vaegon gingerly straightened out Mikahl’s broken leg, and did his best to magically knit the bone back together. It was all he had the strength left to do, and he couldn’t even do a good job of it. The flesh wound there was deep, and uneven. He reverted to a more primitive form of healing, tore strips of cloth from his sleeves, and then bound them around Mikahl’s thigh. There was nothing he could do for the internal injuries. After trying to help the fallen ranger earlier, and what he had just done for Mikahl, he was drained completely. He hoped beyond hope, that he had done enough to keep Mikahl alive, until he could get better care.
Talon and Hyden fell to the ground at Grrr’s side at the same moment.
“Oh, by the Goddess, no!” Hyden cried out, as he clutched his arms around the great wolf he had come to love.
Talon let out a mewling coo of sorrow. Through the dead wolf’s fur, and his own unashamed sobs, Hyden asked Vaegon about Mikahl.
Vaegon explained to him that if Mikahl didn’t get to the healers in Xwarda quickly, he was as good as dead. He explained his idea, and Hyden listened intently. When Vaegon was done, Hyden grabbed Huffa around her neck and hugged her close, while whispering desperately into her ear. She let out a rolling yelp of concern when he was done.
“Yes, we’ll look after him,” Hyden replied, speaking of the injured wolf, Urp.
Vaegon began re-rigging the pack harness that had been used to strap their supplies to Urp’s back during their long journey. Huffa yipped, nuzzled, and waggled at Oof’s side, then pranced over to Vaegon, and stood proud and still for the elf.
While Vaegon rigged Mikahl’s body to Huffa’s back, the lady ordered her men to gather the horses. The two armored soldiers, who had stood guard over her instead of helping to fight the Choska and its rider, threw the fallen ranger’s body over the lady’s horse as if it were a sack of grain. They were none too pleased to learn that, as punishment for their inaction, they would be walking back to Xwarda. It was clear that the woman held rank over these men. They turned over their horses, without a word of complaint, so that Hyden and Vaegon could ride them. The other Ranger, whose name was Drick, was to lead them to Xwarda.
Hyden wondered who this brave woman was, as she mounted Oof’s back with only a minimal pause. It was just moments, after she and Mikahl’s limp body were racing away on the wolf’s back, that he realized that she might be after Mikahl’s sword too. A flash of panic swept over him, and he looked to Vaegon. The elf was
